Rupavahini Chairman resigns amid pioneering AI innovations

By Divya Thotawatte 

Following a period of sig-nificant innovations using artificial intelligence (AI) and growth under  his leadership, Sri Lanka Rupavahini Corporation (SLRC) Chairman Dr. Prasad Samarasinghe has resigned citing personal reasons. 

Samarasinghe stated that the reason for his resignation was unrelated to any current political events. 

After spearheading a turnaround at SLRC last year through innovative programs and changes to its TV channels, Samarasinghe resigned to relocate abroad and support his daughters, who are pursuing their higher education overseas. He departed the country this Friday. 

Rupavahini TV recently achieved a significant milestone with the introduction of its pioneering AI newscast, marking a ground-breaking achievement for Sri Lanka. This project includes creating replicas of leading TV anchors, Nishadhi Bandaranayake and Chaminda Gunaratne for their 8 p.m. news telecast through AI. Samarasinghe who is also a software engineer, said, “This is the first time we are doing something like this in Sri Lanka. Getting the Sri Lankan pronunciation, actions and the mouth is not an easy task. We are using old pictures and recordings of the two featured presenters to train the AI. We also created an AI club.”

News Producer Gamini Bandara Manikdiwela explained that the project is significant, not merely for SLRC, but the entire country since Sri Lanka is not often recognised for such innovations. However, training the AI to present in Sinhala using Image AI Generation, Video AI Generation and Audio AI Generation has been a complicated learning process since any mistakes would be clearly noticeable to the audience. Therefore, much time and effort is spent on studying and perfecting the replicas. 

“This project is ground-breaking in terms of the innovations as well as the research and studies that we do here.” However, due to Samarasinghe’s understanding and support of the subject, his departure would be a significant loss, affecting the project’s trajectory and progress, Manikdiwela noted.

Moreover, since Samarasinghe took the helm, the media company which turned 42 this year, has undergone a remarkable turnaround. With a more mature approach and focus on increasing profits while hosting programs to elevate the skills of the Sri Lankan workforce, he has steered the company toward a transformative period of growth. 

“For the last seven months, we have attempted to move beyond the programs of a traditional channel. We have been focusing on looking for solutions for the country and that is why we started programs like ‘IT for All’, ‘Freelancer’, and ‘Pro +’ to help our youth and the workforce to improve their skills and make their way in the digital economy.” Seven teledramas are also in development and set to be launched soon, Samarasinghe said.